Evening Star Newspaper, April 7, 1937, Page 4

ROOT INFLUENGED SEVENPRESIDENTS Only Six of 31 Presidents Not Contemporary With Him. The story of Elihu Root—the lawyer “whose life-long client was the United States,” who, for more than 40 years before his recent death at the age of 92, was the man behind American History—is told here in a series of articles, of which this is the second. The writer, eminent as editor and au- thor and professor of international law at Columbia University, had many clost contacts with Mr. Root. BY PHILIP C. JESSUP. On September 14, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt finished s mad dash out of the Adirondack wilderness to Buffalo, only to arrive several hours after Wil- liam McKinley died. A small group gathered in the parior of the Wilcox home. Elihu Root, Secretary of War and senior cabinet officer present, brought in District Judge Hazel. Root drew Roosevelt aside and whispered to him earnestly for a few moments. He told him that the country was disturbed and upset and that to create confidence his first statement should be an assurance that he would carry on the McKinley policies. They separated and Root spoke aloud. His voice broke; tears ran down his cheeks. In the name of the cabinet, he asked Roosevelt to take the oath, which Judge Hazel administered. Roosevelt briefly stated that he would carry on the McKinley policies unbroken. He and Mr, Root then left the house together, deep in con- versation. Root intended that this should be a solemn pledge, and Roose= velt so regarded it. Thus Root molded the general framework of his first presidential years. Close Friend of Arthur. Twenty vears before, Root had brought back to 123 Lexington avenue, New York City, another judge, and had stood by while his friend, Chester A. Arthur, took the oath upon learning of the death of President Garfleld. Arthur and Root were close friends | and there was some popular supposi- tion that Root would have a place in his cabinet, but neither of them seriously considered it. There is no evidence that Root shaped any of Arthur’s policies, but instance, Woodrow Wilson. His span | in widely varying degrees he influenced | the presidential activites of McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover and, in at least one of years was such that only six of the 31 Presidents of the United States were not, for some part of their lives, contemporaries of Elihu Root. Theodore Roosevelt, like the sec- ond President Roosevelt, had his worries with strikes of national im- portance. T. R.s most anxious ex- | perience came with the great an- thracite coal strike of 1902, which was called just eight months after he took the oath of office. The mine workers had received no raise in wages since 1880 until, in 1899, under the leader- ship of John Mitchell, they demanded a 10 per cent increase and obtained it because Mark Hanna persuaded the operators and bankers that it was cheaper to increase wage costs than to have Bryan defeat McKinley for the presidency. After fruitless negotiations over further demands, Mitchell called out 140,000 miners from the anthracite fields on May 12, 1902. Industrial Leaders Progress. The progress which industrial leaders have made in gauging public sentiment on labor disputes is in- dicated if one compares the recent amicable negotiations of Myron Tay=- lor and John L. Lewis with the at- titude of George F. Baer, who acted as spokesman for the coal operators in 1902. Baer received a letter from a man in Wilkes-Barre named Clark, who urged him that it was his re- ligious duty to end the strike. Baer replied that he should not be dis- couraged since the “rights and in- terests of the laboring man will be protected and cared for—not by the labor agitators, but by the Christian men to whom God in his infinite wis- dom has given the control of the property interests of this country.” There was a howl from the pulpit and press, turning the tide of public sympathy to the strikers. The strike continued, the price of coal soared, and, as Autumn drew on, schools had to be closed for lack of fuel. With the elections coming on in November, the politicians trembled lest the people visit on the party in power responsibility for the situation. Roosevelt was worried. He summoned Baer, Mitchell and others to a con- ference in Washington on October 8, but the operators defled every pro- posal for settlement. They would not recognize the union under any eir- cumstances nor accede to Mitchell's proposal to submit the whole matter to a commission appointed by the President. Root Uninterested in Record. Roosevelt had about decided to send Federal troops into the coel fields, telling Attorney General Knox and Root that they could make & record of formal protests against the il- legality of his action if they wanted to. But Root was never interested your train in making a record for himself; he was very much concerned about what to THE kind of record his friend and chief | would make. | He wasn’t sure how far the Presi- ROOFLEAK GICHNER . at 14th & Pennsylvanla Ave. Entrance Food speclalties by famous Wil- Jard chet . , o Dopular prices. 1305 F STREET,n.-w.— I (DcSéingInvifafions il Announcements s aar new styles of ngraving executed in true Brewood manner are moderate enough in cost to meet present-da demands ... e ‘Brew®D Engrayers an® Fine Printers 1217 G St. N.W. PHONE DISTRICT 4868 The Larger Boice- Crane Gap-Bed Lathes Nos. 1700 and 1301 55% Added capacity without any extra cost! Husky models that swing 17-inch diameter within gap. Heavy duty, ball bearing, with every worthwhile feature included. Special, 329.85 complete Free Delivery of Every Order J. FRANK ELLY INC. Lumber & Millwork 2121 Ga Ave. NOrth 1341 No taxi; no traffic— just a few steps from dent would go, because “Theodore was a hit of a bluffer occasionally and at the same time he had nerve enough to g0 on; to take a chance his statements would have the deciding effect and, if not, to go on and trust the country would back him up.” The failure of the conference iade him feel, he said, “as if Roosevelt needed a little help. Roosevelt, after all, was a young fellow, without very much experience in the ordinary affairs of life. My interest was that I saw my friend in trouble.” He went to Roosevelt and told him that he thought he saw & way out. He sald he would like to talk to J. P. Mor- gan, but “I don't want o represent you. I want entire freedom to say whatever I please, and that is possible only if I represent no one.” Roosevelt approved the plan—“he approved it very violently”—Root wrote to Morgan and received an invitation to meet him on the Corsair in the North River. The plan of settlement, written in Sec- retary Root’s hand on Corsair station- ery, is preserved today in the Morgan library. Hotel” 2,000 large, restful, outside rooms — all with private bath—from $3.00 Frank J. Crohan, President . . Connected with the Baltimore and Ohio 42nd St. Terminal by underground passage Double Lines of Complaints. THE EVENING \ STAR, WASHINGTON, ative negotiators for the miners— something which the employers of la- bor had been standing against very tenaciously. They would negotiate with their own men, but not with the representatives of organized labor. “That came out very plainly. The bones of it struck you in the eye for any one who had been in litigation of that description. The course out was a statement that while they remained unwilling to make an agreement on the existing situation with people not rep- resentative of the workers, they were perfectly willing to submit the existing situation to impartial adjudication. It was a damned lie, but it looked fair on paper.” It was a very simple plan, not differ- ing greatly in essence from the previ- ous proposal by Mitchell, but it needed Root's shrewdness and knowledge of the psychology of the men involved to put it in a palatable pill. He and Morgan drove in a cab from the dock to the Union League Club, where the operators were waiting. Morgan went in with the memorandum and Root went back to Washington. Labor Did Not Like Root. But organized labor did not like Root; to them he personified Wall Street. While, in the coal strike, Root cared little about the rights of the union, he cared just as little about the desires of the operators. Labor also suspected him, as Secretary of ‘War, of. redistributing Federal troops in order to have them near big in- dustrial centers where they could be used to overawe labor; the redistribu- tion was actually based on old tactical recommendations which considered the military situation only. Samuel! Gompers attacked Root's policies in the Philippines, partly because he thought it an excuse to keep a large standing Army to tyrannize the people. Labor had not forgotten President Cleveland's use of Federal troops in the Pullman strike of 1894. When Root took over the War Department from Secretary Alger in the Summer of 1399 Federal troops were in control in the Coeur d’Alene mining district of Idaho. There were cries that the troops had been lent to the companies to break the unions. Root objected to the continued use of the troops there and brought about their with- drawal. In 1903, while Root was visiting West Point, the Governor of Arizona asked President Roosevelt for troops and they were sent by order of the President; they were soon withdrawn. A little later in the same year Root checked the sending of troops to Colo- rado in answer to the Governor's appeal. To Col. Ensign, in Colorado City, Root wrote: ‘The true purpose of an army is to fight with the people of other nations, and the less our own people are subjected to military control and coercion, the better.” Labor opposed Root’s appointment by President Wilson to head the Amer- ican mission to Russia in 1917. But Root was appointed and became the object of violent attacks in Russia, many of them emanating from Ger- many, such as the story that the United States was not a republic at all—a story proved by quoting Ameri- can newspaper references to Root as a “leader of the Empire State"! It was partly labor opposition which made Wilson unwilling to appoint Root to the Peace Commission at Versailles. Arbitral Award Accepted. | Yet, at the age of 82, his was the only name on a list of over 100 sug- | gested by William Green upon which the Bricklayers’ and Plasterers’ Unions could agree as the impartial arbitrator of their quarrel, which, in 1927, was tying up hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of construction. Root's arbitral award was fully accepted, be- | cause, as the plasterers’ trade paper | With one remarked, “his presence in the matter relieved any and all concerned of any doubt as to the fairness in which the matter would be handled and the justice of the decision.” With men of any type, as individ- uals, Root got along famously, but for people in the mass he had & Hamiltonian distrust. To Theodore Roosevelt he was particularly valuable as a defender and interpreter among the leaders of big business. In 1902 Roosevelt aroused the wrath of the captains of industry by starting pro- ceedings against the Northern Secur- ities Co. under the Sherman anti- trust law. J. P. Morgan, James J. Hill and E. H. Harriman were the fathers of this scheme for railroad consolidation. They felt that Roose- velt’s action was a blow at corporate enterprise; Roosevelt considered it & blow at plutocratic tyranny. The stock market was shaken, and throughout the country in business and banking circles went the word that Roosevelt was not a “safe” man. The vehemence of feeling and the nature of the attacks on the President in 1902 can be reread in Franklin Roosevelt's day without a suggestion of anachronism. Root again felt that his “friend was in trouble,” and he invaded the stronghold of the opposition with a speech at the Union League Club on February 3, 1904, immediately after his resignation as Secretary of War. He said he was told that Roosevelt was not safe. “He is not safe for the men who wish government to be conducted with greater reference to campaign contri- | butions than to the public good. He is not safe for the men who wish to draw the President of the United States off into a corner and make whispered arrangements. * * * But I say to you that he has been * * * the greatest conservative force for the protection of property and our institutions in the City of Wash- ington. * * * There is a better way to deal with labor and to keep it from rising into the tumult of the unregulated and resistless mob than by starving it or by corrupting its leaders. That way is that capital shall be fair * * * fair to the con- sumer, fair to the laborer, fair to the investor. ®* * * Never forget that the men who labor cast the votes, |set up and pull down governments, | and that our Government is possible, the perpetuity of our institutions is possible * * ¢ only so long as the men who labor with their hands be- | lieve in American liberty and Ameri- can laws.” Root Again Got Judgment. Again Root got a juagment in favor of his client, Roosevelt, although again it is probable that even Wall | Street opposition could not have pre- vented his nomination and election. Root had forecast the same point of view in an address at Hamilton College in 1879, when he was only 34, but already attorney for some large Starring Evelyn Chandier L 0000000060000000000000 PLEASANT), Safe and Sur' HEXASOL SALINE LAXATIVE of these machines you'll really enjoy your washing and ironing— they're demonstrat- ors at this price but real values. standa rd make washers and ironers. $1 a Week Pays 1239 G St. Cor. 13th LEWIS & THOS. SALTZ, CUSTOM fore the present rise costs. You will enjoy a buying NOW. INCORP 1409 G STREET, N. W. “Keep Prices Down to Last Winter's Level Until Further Notice” FRENCH, SHRINER & URNER $10.85 to $12.85 These shoes were cut from leathers bought be- SHRINER SHOES_____..______$7.95 LEWIS & THOS. SALTZ 1409 G STREET N. W. NOT CONNECTED WITH SALTZ BROTHERS INC. INC. ESTABLISHMENT Q.\L.%\:.uu\ MODELS in material and labor worth-while saving by ORATED the huge concentrations of corporate wealth and the oppression of the laborer. “The people,” he said, “have lost faith in representative govern- ment as it is now administered.” When Root was Secretary of State, he expressed his philosophy as a corporate lawyer in a letter to Gen. Black of the Civil Service Commission. He said the lawyer was almost always conservative, “instinctively opposed to change” and “seldom concerns him- self about the broad aspects of pub- lic policy”; he may be ‘“oblivious to the fact that in helping to enforce the law he is helping to injure the public. * I am conscious that I have myself * * * given advice in strict accordance with laws whose wisdom it had never occurred to me to ques- tion, but which I should now, after many years of thinking what the law ought to be, condemn.” (Copyright, 1937, by the North Americia Newspaper Alliance, Inc.) TWO FROM DISTRICT SAVED IN BOAT FIRE Among Five Rescued as Fishing Craft Burns in Key West Harbor. L. C. Balter, accountant in the Bureau of Fisheries, and Mrs. Salter were among five persons rescued from a burning fishing boat yesterday in Key West, Fla., harbor, the Associated Press reported. They were uninjured. According to his office here, Salter is on the Florida coast to obtain in- formation for the bureau. The Salters live at 3945 Connecticut avenue. Others in the party included Mr. | and Mrs. William L. Wilson, Jackson- ville, Fla.,, and the skipper, Capt. Austin Roberts, Key West. Mrs. Wil- son, burned about the face and arms, | was the only one injured. She was treated by a physician. | Capt. Roberts blamed an engine | backfire for the flames, which broke out as the craft moved out of the harbor for fishing grounds in the Gulf. | Crewmen from a nearby schooner re- | moved the five in a rowboat. SHAVING STARTS WAR! D. C., WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1937 HOUSE IN3-WAY SPLITONLYNCHING Mitchell Measure to Punish Officers to Be Debated This Afternoon. HY the Associated Press. The House divided into three fac- tions today over anti-lynching legis- lation, long & source of argument in Congress. ' Leaders called up for debate during the afternoon & measure by Repre- sentative Mitchell, Democrat, of Illi- nois, only Negro member, levying heavy fines and prison sentences on State peace officers who permit & pris- oner to be taken from custody and lynched. The bill had the support of & group which included several Judiciary Com- mittes members. Gavagan Plan Supported. The House Republican membership, however, decided last night to support a proposal of Representative Gava- gan, Democrat, of New York to au- thorize prosecution of members of mobs as well as peace officers involved. It will be considered next Monday. Gavagan said Mitchell’s bill had no teeth. Both measures would make a county liable for damages in event of a lynch- | ing, payable to the victim’s family. The third group of members, chiefly Southern, opposes Federal anti-lynch- ing laws as an unnecessary invasion of States’ rights. Chairman Sumners of the Judiciary Committee said such measures “would Psychic Message Council 1100 Twelfth St N.W. Corner of 12th and “L” Circles Daily, 2:30 & 7:30 P.M. Grace Gray Delens. Resder Personal interviews for spiritual nelp and guidance ma; arranged by s Visit £ the Counci] House or Telephone Mewruwolitan 5234 Consultation 81 corporate interests. He denounced 000000000000000000000000 3 Coming April 19 : ¢ the Shoreham’s ¢ P4 ICE CARNIVAL ‘e Hanon, King of the Ammonites, forced King David’s ambassadors to shave. Immediately David de- clared war to avenge the insulc. If your daily shave means a private war, switch to genuine Gem Blades! PACKAGED QUINTUPLETS! Buy a trial package today of five' Gem Micro- matic Blades. 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Its name has been traced to Charles Lynch of Virginia, who seized & group of Tory plotters during the Revolutionary War and sentenced them to prison. His act later was le- galized by the Virginia Legislature. Anti-lynching measures have come before Congress for many years, but not since 1922 has either house passed such & bill. In thet yesr the House approved the Dyer act, but the Seante blocked it. STRICKEN ON BUS, DIES Henry 0. Smith, 65, Was Veter- ans’ Administration Attorney. Henry O. 8mith, 65, of 2800 Con- necticut avenue, Veterans’ Administra- tion attorney, died Monday of a sud- den {llness after being stricken while riding & bus. He was pronounced dead at Emergency Hospital. ‘The body was taken last night to Palestine, Ill, for burial. Mr. Smith, a graduate of the Na- tional Law 8chool, had been in Gov- ernment service for many years. From 1913 to 1916 he was an agent of the Bureau of Fisheries in Alaska. It Your Dentist Hurts You Try DR. 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Cooke Lewis, 57, vice president of the Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. of Bos- ton and former controller of the American Red Cross, with headquare ters nere, died Monday night in Bos- ton following an operation, according to word received here. Funeral serv- ices and burial will be in St. Louis tomorrow. Mr. Lewis was an executive of the Red Cross during the World War and resigned in 1922 as controller to aid in organizing the Liberty Mutual Insur- ace Co. He was a brother of Edward MCE. Lewis, 3133 O street. Besides his brother here, he leaves his wife, Mrs. Helen Lewis, Boston; his father, Edward S. Lewis, New York, and two sisters, Mrs. Bransford Hill, New York, and Mrs. Fred L. English, 8t. Louis. DEVELOPED AND PRINTED ANY SIZE, 6 or 8 Exposures Reprints 3¢ up, minimum erder 13¢ on each size. 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